[HeadLover]

Hi
I have seen there are some cables with marks, like XLO or others.

What is it? and what is it good for? I mean it isn't like the audio don't know where to go that it need marks, right?
So can you please explain ???

 

[Joelby]

well some cables claim to be directional: the signal should only travel in the direction of the arrows.

Personally, I think it is complete BS.

 

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi I have seen there are some cables with marks, like XLO or others. What is it? and what is it good for? I mean it isn't like the audio don't know where to go that it need marks, right? So can you please explain ???

The outer shield is connected at one end only. That end should be attached to your source. This way the shield draws EMI and RFI away from your amp and towards your source. Its not BS, make sure the arrows leed away from your source and towards your amp, they should follow the signal flow.

Quote:

DESIGN BASICS: King Cobra is Triple-Balanced. This means there are three identical insulated conductors, in addition to a separate conductor underneath the 100% coverage foil shield. When used with XLR connectors and balanced electronics, the two positive signals (inverting and non-inverting) and the negative, all get the same low-distortion conducting path. The shield is attached to chassis ground through the case of the XLR, providing extremely effective shielding without contaminating the quality of the negative conducting path. When King Cobra is fitted with RCA plugs, two conductors are used together for the much higher potential across the negative connection, providing a substantial performance advantage. The shield is only attached at one end, providing total shield coverage without compromising the negative conducting path.

www.AudioQuest.com

 

[olblueyez]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif well some cables claim to be directional: the signal should only travel in the direction of the arrows. Personally, I think it is complete BS.

See the quote in my Signature.

 

[spookygonk]

Indicates they would be aerodynamically more efficiant when cryogenically frozen straight and used in archery. Possibly.

 

[ILikeMusic]

Quote:

"When King Cobra is fitted with RCA plugs, two conductors are used together for the much higher potential across the negative connection, providing a substantial performance advantage."

Yeah, riiiiight....

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by olblueyez /img/forum/go_quote.gif The outer shield is connected at one end only. That end should be attached to your source. This way the shield draws EMI and RFI away from your amp and towards your source. Its not BS, make sure the arrows leed away from your source and towards your amp, they should follow the signal flow. AudioQuest

^ What he say!
They are designed for the signal to flow with the arrows.

 

[nick_charles]

I have tested several "directional" cables . The measured differences between connecting a cable the "right" way round or the "wrong" way round I have found to be miniscule, in the range of 100ths or 1000ths of a db, never ever reaching even 10ths of a db and not actually audibly altering the noise levels or frequency spectra on cables I have tested from Audioquest and others.

I would not worry about it.

 

[gregorio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi I have seen there are some cables with marks, like XLO or others. What is it? and what is it good for? I mean it isn't like the audio don't know where to go that it need marks, right? So can you please explain ???

To be honest, I would personally steer away from cable which supposedly is directional. It implies that either the manufacturer knows very little about audio cable or more likely they are using it as a marketing gimmick and trying to take me for a fool. Either way, I wouldn't be interested in their products.

G

 

[Xan7hos]

The interconnect (not the wire itself) is directional in which there is probably a Lead wire, a Ground wire, and a Drain wire, where the drain is connected to one RCA plug at one end (soldered with the ground) and not at the other end. So theoretically, if you were to accidentally flip it, (arrow going "wrong" way) it technically shouldn't provide as much EMI/RFI rejection.

 

[JaZZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by olblueyez /img/forum/go_quote.gif The outer shield is connected at one end only. That end should be attached to your source. This way the shield draws EMI and RFI away from your amp and towards your source. Its not BS, make sure the arrows leed away from your source and towards your amp, they should follow the signal flow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xan7hos /img/forum/go_quote.gif The interconnect (not the wire itself) is directional in which there is probably a Lead wire, a Ground wire, and a Drain wire, where the drain is connected to one RCA plug at one end (soldered with the ground) and not at the other end. So theoretically, if you were to accidentally flip it, (arrow going "wrong" way) it technically shouldn't provide as much EMI/RFI rejection.

Exactly. It's not voodoo. But maybe it's not to be taken too seriously nonetheless. I have reversed directional cables with no negative effect. It's not really plausible why the shielding should be more effective when the EMI/RFI-induced currents are diverted on the source side as opposed to the amp side.
.

 

[olblueyez]

Seems like some people have just decided to call it lies and BS without even reading one word about what it is and what it is supposed to do. I bet if I go lookin back at their profiles I would be able to tell why they know nothing about too.

 

[nick_charles]

I would guess that by and large the manufacturers of "directional" cables genuinely believe that the direction of the cable makes a difference, possibly they can justify this with some scientific or enginering principles.

That being so, is there in fact a real difference and if so what is the magnitude of the difference ?. How something is supposed to work is interesting but whether it works or not is more relevant.

Whilst it is true that I did find a statistically significant difference between correctly aligned and incorrectly aligned directional cables (Audioquest) (1) I needed 929 samples to get this and (2) even so the differences were in the 100ths or 1000ths of a db difference range and never more than 0.022db at any frequency ever.

I would suggest this is nothing to lose sleep over.

 

[Stoin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick_charles /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would guess that by and large the manufacturers of "directional" cables genuinely believe that the direction of the cable makes a difference, possibly they can justify this with some scientific or enginering principles. That being so, is there in fact a real difference and if so what is the magnitude of the difference ?. How something is supposed to work is interesting but whether it works or not is more relevant. Whilst it is true that I did find a statistically significant difference between correctly aligned and incorrectly aligned directional cables (Audioquest) (1) I needed 929 samples to get this and (2) even so the differences were in the 100ths or 1000ths of a db difference range and never more than 0.022db at any frequency ever. I would suggest this is nothing to lose sleep over.

If they are working to reduce RFI then the conditions you were testing under become important. If you did this test under nice controlled conditions with very low RFI then the differences would be minimal, if detectable. Sit some of the cable between some CRTs and maybe add a few mobile phones and the results could (should if the technology works) be different.

I'm not saying it does or doesn't work, having never tested myself, but in some situations it could make a difference. Whether too many people have a large enough problem with RFI for it to be noticeable in many systems is another question -especially as people with directional cables probably have better shielding on their power supplies and a better layout of cable runs.

Anyway, if the wire likes being one way you may as well connect it up the way it likes. A happy wire always sounds better than a sad wire -fact!

 

[JaZZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyway, if the wire likes being one way you may as well connect it up the way it likes. A happy wire always sounds better than a sad wire -fact!

Good advice!

.